


Tremble at the Words

by Yrindor



Series: Sports Anime Shipping Olympics 2016 Fills [62]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: All Magic Comes With a Price, Demon Kuroo Tetsurou, Kotodama, M/M, Necromancy, Power of Words, Prompt Fic, SASO 2016, Temporary Character Death, Witch Kozume Kenma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 10:18:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7680544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yrindor/pseuds/Yrindor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a song at the core of everything in the universe.  Kenma's not only listened until he can hear all of them, he's practiced until he can sing them all as well.  But the larger the magic, the higher the cost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tremble at the Words

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sports Anime Shipping Olympics 2016 Bonus Round 5: Myth & Lore. Also fills the "character in distress" square for Trope Bingo round 7.

He has to find Kuroo before it's too late. That's all Kenma can think as he sprints through the forest after Kuroo's weakening presence, heedless of the branches that are leaving angry scratches across his skin.

He's still too far away when he feels Kuroo fade entirely. He screams and puts on a final burst of speed to carry him to where Kuroo's lifeless body is lying on the ground riddled with arrows and sword wounds.

Technically he's too late, but that doesn't matter to him. Kuroo's spirit is still lingering nearby, and the mercenaries who thought it would be fun to kill a demon for sport haven't gone far.

He pulls the arrows from Kuroo's body and sings a simple spell to return them to their owner. They all fly back through the forest and strike true; the archer doesn't even have a chance to cry out before his spirit departs from his body.

Kenma's waiting with the second part of his spell the second the spirit flies free. He calls it back to him and uses it to weave a cage around Kuroo's. Kuroo's a demon after all; it's easy to keep his spirit around just by offering other spirits for it to eat.

One spirit won't hold for long though, not for as long as the rest of the spell will take, so Kenma turns his attention to the two other mercenaries. They fought with swords and knives, so they're a bit more difficult, but not by much. He simply sings the words to tear their spirits from their bodies. They're forbidden words, but not particularly difficult ones; after all, everyone's spirit leaves their body eventually. Their bodies fall lifeless to the ground, and he takes their spirits and weaves them into his cage; three spirits should be enough to hold Kuroo for the time he needs.

With Kuroo's spirit secure, he turns his attention to Kuroo's body. Healing a body is easy; every body has songs of its own―the song of blood pulsing through veins, of air flowing through lungs, of muscles contracting and relaxing. Healing them is just a matter of filling in the damaged pieces of the song.

He sets his hands on the first of the wounds, feels the pattern as it should be, and begins to sing the torn flesh back together. His own power runs out long before he finishes, but he barely notices, switching seamlessly to other sources. Around him, trees wither and die and birds fall from the sky as he takes their life force and reshapes it to fill the holes in Kuroo's.

Finally, all that remains is to reunite Kuroo's spirit with his newly repaired body. Splitting a spirit from a body is easy; it's the natural progression of all things. Joining a spirit to a body is far more difficult; it's a power usually granted only to the gods. But at its core, everything in the universe is a song, and anyone who listens hard enough can hear. Kenma had listened until he could hear everything, and then he had practiced until he could sing it all as well.

He sings more loudly now, singing words never meant for mortal ears. Up in the heavens, an angel screams and falls as its grace is stripped from it and fed into Kenma's spell, tying Kuroo back together again.

By the time Kenma's song finally ends, his ears are bleeding, and there's not another living thing for a kilometer in any direction. Even the heavens are trembling in fear, but he doesn't notice. All he cares about is the moment when Kuroo finally opens his eyes again and pulls him close, and he can feel Kuroo's heart beating under his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated.


End file.
